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Chapter II : Form Of Life
And Apostolic Activity
Title I
THE FORM OF LIFE
Article 8
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The secular
Franciscans commit themselves by their profession to
live the Gospel according to Franciscan spirituality in
their secular condition.
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They seek to
deepen, in the light of faith, the values and choices of
the evangelical life according to the Rule of the SFO:
-- Rule 7 in a continually renewed journey of conversion
and of formation;
-- Rule 4,3 open to the challenges that come from
society and from the Church's life situation, "going
from Gospel to life and from life to Gospel";
-- in the personal and communal dimensions of this
journey.
Article 9
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Rule 5 The
spirituality of the secular Franciscan is a plan of life
centered on the person and on the following of Christ,
[9] rather than a detailed program to be put into
practice.
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Rule 4,3 The
secular Franciscan, committed to following the example
and the teachings of Christ, must personally and
assiduously study the Gospel and Sacred Scripture. The
fraternity and its leaders should foster love for the
word of the Gospel and help the brothers and sisters to
know and understand it as it is proclaimed by the Church
with the assistance of the Spirit [10] .
Article 10
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Rule 10
"Christ, poor and crucified", victor over death and
risen, the greatest manifestation of the love of God for
humanity, is the "book" in which the brothers and
sisters, in imitation of Francis, learn the purpose and
the way of living, loving, and suffering. They discover
in Him the value of contradictions for the sake of
justice and the meaning of the difficulties and the
crosses of daily life. With Him they can accept the will
of the Father even under the most difficult
circumstances and live the Franciscan spirit of peace,
rejecting every doctrine contrary to human dignity.
Article 11
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Mindful that
the Holy Spirit is the source of their vocation and the
animator of fraternal life and mission, secular
Franciscans should seek to imitate the faithfulness of
Francis to His inspiration. They should listen to the
exhortation of the Saint to desire above all things "the
Spirit of God at work within them" [11] .
Article 12
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Gaining
inspiration from the example and the writings of Francis
and, above all, filled with the grace of the Holy
Spirit, each day the brothers and sisters faithfully
live the great gift which Christ has given: the
revelation of the Father. They should bear witness to
this faith before all:
-- in their family life;
-- in their work;
-- in their joys and sufferings;
-- in their associations with all men and women,
brothers and sisters of the same Father;
-- in their presence and participation in the life of
society;
-- in their fraternal relationships with all creatures.
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Rule 10 With
Jesus, obedient even to death, they should seek to know
and do the will of the Father. They should give thanks
to God for the gift of freedom and for the revelation of
the law of love. In order to carry out the will of the
Father, they should accept the help which is offered to
them through the mediation of the Church by those who
are constituted as authority in her and by their
confreres. They should take on the risk of courageous
choices in their life in society with decisiveness and
serenity.
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Rule 8 The
brothers and sisters should love meeting God as His
children and they should let prayer and contemplation be
the soul of all they are and do. They should seek to
discover the presence of the Father in their own heart,
in nature, and in the history of humanity in which His
plan of salvation is fulfilled. The contemplation of
this mystery will dispose them to collaborate in this
loving plan.
Article 13
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Rule 7
Secular Franciscans, called in earlier times "the
brothers and sisters of penance", propose to live in the
spirit of continual conversion. Some means to cultivate
this characteristic of the Franciscan vocation,
individually and in fraternity, are: listening to and
celebrating the Word of God; review of life; spiritual
retreats; the help of a spiritual adviser, and
penitential celebrations. They should approach the
Sacrament of Reconciliation frequently and participate
in the communal celebration of it, whether in the
fraternity, or with the whole people of God [12] .
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In this
spirit of conversion, they should live out their love
for the renewal of the Church, which should be
accompanied by personal and communal renewal. The fruits
of conversion, which is a response to the love of God,
are the works of charity in the interactions with the
brothers and sisters [13] .
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Traditional
among Franciscan penitents, penitential practices such
as fasting and abstinence should be known, appreciated,
and lived out according to the general guidelines of the
Church.
Article 14
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Aware that
God wanted to make of us all a single people and that he
made his Church the universal sacrament of salvation,
the brothers and sisters should commit themselves to a
faith-inspired reflection on the Church, its mission in
today's world and the role of the Franciscan laity
within it. They should take up the challenges and accept
the responsibilities that this reflection will lead them
to discover.
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Rule 8 The
Eucharist is the center of the life of the Church.
Christ unites us to himself and to one another as a
single body in it. Therefore, the Eucharist should be
the center of the life of the fraternity. The brothers
and sisters should participate in the Eucharist as
frequently as possible, being mindful of the respect and
love shown by Francis, who, in the Eucharist, lived all
the mysteries of the life of Christ.
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They should
participate in the sacraments of the Church, attentive
not only to personal sanctification, but also to
fostering the growth of the Church and the spreading of
the Kingdom. They should collaborate in achieving living
and conscious celebrations in their own parishes,
particularly in the celebrations of baptism,
confirmation, marriage, and the anointing of the sick.
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The brothers
and sisters as well as the fraternities should adhere to
the indications of the Ritual with respect to the
different forms of participating in the liturgical
prayer of the Church, giving priority to the celebration
of the Liturgy of the Hours [14] .
5. In all places and at all times, it is possible for
true worshippers of the Father to give him adoration and
to pray to him. Nevertheless, the brothers and sisters
should try to find times of silence and recollection
dedicated exclusively to prayer.
Article 15
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Rule 11
Secular Franciscans should pledge themselves to live the
spirit of the Beatitudes and, in a special way, the
spirit of poverty. Evangelical poverty demonstrates
confidence in the Father, creates interior freedom, and
disposes them to promote a more just distribution of
wealth.
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Secular
Franciscans, who must provide for their own families and
serve society by means of their work and material goods,
have a particular manner of living evangelical poverty.
To understand and achieve it requires a strong personal
commitment and the stimulation of the fraternity in
prayer and dialogue, communal review of life, and
attentiveness to the instructions of the Church, and the
demands of society.
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Secular
Franciscans should pledge themselves to reduce their own
personal needs so as to be better able to share
spiritual and material goods with their brothers and
sisters, especially those most in need. They should give
thanks to God for the goods they have received, using
them as good stewards and not as owners.
They should take a firm position against consumerism and
against ideologies and practices which prefer riches
over human and religious values and which permit the
exploitation of the human person.
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They should
love and practice purity of heart, the source of true
fraternity.
Article 16
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Rule 9 Mary,
Mother of Jesus, is the model of listening to the Word
and of faithfulness to vocation; we, like Francis, see
all the gospel virtues realized in her [15] .
The brothers and sisters should cultivate intense love
for the most holy virgin, imitation, prayer, and filial
abandonment. They should manifest their own devotion
with expressions of genuine faith, in forms accepted by
the Church.
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Mary is the
model of fruitful and faithful love for the entire
ecclesial community.
Secular Franciscans and their fraternities should seek
to live the experience of Francis, who made the Virgin
the guide of his activity. With her, like the disciples
at Pentecost, they should welcome the Spirit to create a
community of love [16] .
Title II
ACTIVE PRESENCE IN THE CHURCH AND IN THE WORLD
Article 17
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Rule 6
Called to work together in building up the Church as the
sacrament of salvation for all and, through their
baptism and profession, made "witnesses and instruments
of her mission", secular Franciscans proclaim Christ by
their life and words. Their preferred apostolate is
personal witness [17] in the environment in which they
live and service for building up the Kingdom of God
within the situations of this world.
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The
preparation of the brothers and sisters for spreading
the Gospel message "in the ordinary circumstances of the
world" [18] and for collaborating in the catechesis
within the ecclesial communities should be promoted in
the fraternities.
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Those who
are called to carry out the mission of catechists,
presiders of ecclesial communities, or other ministries,
as well as the sacred ministers, should make the love of
Francis for the word of God their own, as well as his
faith in those who announce it, and the great fervor
with which he received the mission of preaching penance
from the Pope.
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Participation in the service of sanctification, which
the Church exercises through the liturgy, prayer, and
works of penance and charity, is put into practice by
the brothers and sisters above all in their own family,
then in the fraternity and finally through their active
presence in the local Church and in society.
For a Just and Fraternal Society
Article 18
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Secular
Franciscans are called to make their own contribution,
inspired by the person and message of Saint Francis of
Assisi, towards a civilization in which the dignity of
the human person, shared responsibility, and love may be
living realities [19] .
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Rule 13 They
should deepen the true foundations of universal kinship
and create a spirit of welcome and an atmosphere of
fraternity everywhere. They should firmly commit
themselves to oppose every form of exploitation,
discrimination, and exclusion and against every attitude
of indifference in relation to others.
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Rule 13 They
should work together with movements which promote the
building of fraternity among peoples: they should be
committed to "create worthy conditions of life" for all
and to work for the freedom of all people.
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Following
the example of Francis, patron of ecologists, they
should actively put forward initiatives that care for
creation and should work with others in efforts that
both put a stop to polluting and degrading nature and
also establish circumstances of living and environment
which would not be a threat to the human person.
Article 19
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Rule 14
Secular Franciscans should always act as a leaven in the
environment in which they live through the witness of
their fraternal love and clear Christian motivations.
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In the
spirit of minority, they should opt for relationships
which give preference to the poor and to those on the
fringe of society, whether these be individuals or
categories of persons or an entire people; they should
collaborate in overcoming the exclusions of others and
those forms of poverty that are the fruit of
inefficiency and injustice.
Article 20
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Rule 14
Secular Franciscans, committed by their vocation to
build the Kingdom of God in temporal situations and
activities, live their membership both in the Church and
in society as an inseparable reality.
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As the
primary and fundamental contribution to building a more
just and fraternal world, they should commit themselves
both to the generous fulfillment of the duties proper to
their occupation and to the professional training that
pertains to it. With the same spirit of service, they
should assume their social and civil responsibilities.
Article 21
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Rule 16 For
Francis, work is a gift and to work is a grace. Daily
work is not only the means of livelihood, but the
opportunity to serve God and neighbor as well as a way
to develop one's own personality. In the conviction that
work is a right and a duty and that every form of
occupation deserves respect, the brothers and sisters
should commit themselves to collaborate so that all
persons may have the possibility to work and so that
working conditions may always be more humane.
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Leisure and
recreation have their own value and are necessary for
personal development. Secular Franciscans should
maintain a balance between work and rest and should
strive to create meaningful forms of using leisure time
[20] .
Article 22
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Rule 15
Secular Franciscans should "be in the forefront ... in
the field of public life." They should collaborate as
much as possible for the passage of just laws and
ordinances.
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The
fraternities should engage themselves through courageous
initiatives, consistent with their Franciscan vocation
and with the directives of the Church, in the field of
human development and justice. They should take clear
positions whenever human dignity is attacked by any form
of oppression or indifference. They should offer their
fraternal service to the victims of injustice.
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The
renunciation of the use of violence, characteristic of
the followers of Francis, does not mean the renunciation
of action. However, the brothers and sisters should take
care that their interventions are always inspired by
Christian love.
Article 23
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Rule 19
Peace is the work of justice and the fruit of
reconciliation and of fraternal love [21] . Secular
Franciscans are called to be bearers of peace in their
families and in society:
-- they should see to the proposal and spreading of
peaceful ideas and attitudes;
-- they should develop their own initiatives and should
collaborate, individually and as a fraternity, with
initiatives of the Pope, the local Churches, and the
Franciscan Family;
-- they should collaborate with those movements and
institutions which promote peace while respecting its
authentic foundations.
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While
acknowledging both the personal and national right to
legitimate defense, they should respect the choice of
those who, because of conscientious objection, refuse to
bear arms.
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To preserve
peace in the family, the brothers and sisters should, in
due time, make a last will and testament for the
disposition of their goods.
In the Family
Article 24
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Rule 17
Secular Franciscans should consider their own family to
be the first place in which to live their Christian
commitment and Franciscan vocation. They should make
space within it for prayer, for the Word of God, and for
Christian catechesis. They should concern themselves
with respect for all life in every situation from
conception until death.
Married couples find in the Rule of the SFO an effective
aid in their own journey of Christian life, aware that,
in the sacrament of matrimony, their love shares in the
love that Christ has for his Church. The way spouses
love each other and affirm the value of fidelity is a
profound witness for their own family, the Church, and
the world.
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In the
fraternity:
-- the spirituality of the family and of marriage and
the Christian attitude towards family problems should be
a theme for dialogue and for the sharing of experiences;
-- they should share the important moments of the family
life of their Franciscan brothers and sisters and they
should give fraternal attention to those - single,
widows, single parents, separated, divorced - who are
living difficult situations;
-- Rule 19 they should create conditions suitable for
dialogue between generations;
-- the formation of groups of married couples and of
family groups should be fostered.
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The brothers
and sisters should collaborate with the efforts
undertaken in the Church and in society to affirm both
the value of fidelity and respect for life and to
provide answers to the social problems of the family.
Article 25
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Out of the
conviction of the need to educate children to take an
interest in community, "bringing them the awareness of
being living, active members of the People of God" [22]
and because of the fascination which Francis can
exercise on them, the formation of groups of children
should be encouraged. With the help of a pedagogy and an
organization suitable to their age, these children
should be initiated into a knowledge and love of the
Franciscan life. National statutes will give appropriate
orientation for the organization of these groups and
their relationship to the fraternity and to Franciscan
youth groups.
Messengers of Joy and Hope
Article 26
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1. Even in
suffering, Francis experienced confidence and joy from:
-- the experience of the fatherhood of God;
-- the invincible faith of rising with Christ to eternal
life;
-- the experience of being able to meet and praise the
Creator in the universal fraternity of all creatures
[23] .
Rule 19 Following the Gospel, secular Franciscans
therefore affirm their hope and their joy in living.
They make a contribution to counter widespread distress
and pessimism, preparing a better future.
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In the
fraternity, the brothers and sisters should promote
mutual understanding and they should see to it that the
atmosphere of their meetings is welcoming and that it
reflects joy. They should encourage one another for the
good.
Article 27
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Rule 19 The
brothers and sisters, progressing in age, should learn
to accept illness and increasing difficulties and to
give a deeper sense to their life. This should be
undertaken with increasing detachment as they set out
for the promised Land. They should be firmly convinced
that the community of those who believe in Christ and
who love one another in him will go forward into eternal
life as the "communion of saints".
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Secular
Franciscans should commit themselves to create in their
environment and, above all, in their fraternities, a
climate of faith and hope so that "Sister Death" may be
regarded as a passage to the Father, and all may prepare
themselves with serenity.
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